For 47906, the distinctive decision is whether a prospective unit’s price and bedroom count align with the current ZIP asking-rent benchmark and the renter’s own budget, rather than whether one broad statistic declares the market affordable. The label is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a matched Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a Census statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. For June 2026, Zillow ZORI is $1,841, up 3.09% year over year. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, not a quote for every available unit. At the structural 30% screen, that monthly amount corresponds to $73,640 in annual income; against the packet’s ZIP income benchmark, its annualized share is 41.6%. Both comparisons are arithmetic, not advice or applicant qualification rules.
The benchmark differences are most useful when their evidence universes remain separate. The ACS 2024 five-year median gross rent is $1,217, with a reported margin of error of ±$49. It describes occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, whereas the $1,841 ZORI reflects observed asking rents blended across rental types. ZORI is 1.51 times the ACS measure, but that gap does not by itself measure rent growth, concessions, utility costs, or the price of a specific home because timing, occupancy status, and construction differ. HUD’s FY2026 FMR/SAFMR is another distinct universe: it is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent. The supplied two-bedroom HUD standard is $1,108, making ZIP ZORI 1.66 times that standard. Neither comparison turns the ACS or HUD figure into an alternative market quote.
Bedroom choice creates the report’s clearest price ladder, but every bedroom figure derived from ZORI is modelled rather than measured. Using the shape of the supplied local HUD ladder and centering the two-bedroom point on ZIP ZORI produces monthly estimates of $1,332 for a studio, $1,560 for one bedroom, $1,841 for two bedrooms, $2,343 for three bedrooms, and $2,799 for four bedrooms. For reference, the underlying HUD administrative ladder runs from $802 for a studio to $1,684 for four bedrooms. This method transfers HUD’s relative bedroom pattern to the ZIP asking-rent index; it does not establish observed premiums between bedroom categories. Unit type, lease term, furnishing, concessions, condition, included utilities, and property-specific fees can all make a listing differ from the modelled estimate without invalidating either benchmark.
The tenure and burden evidence indicates that renter finances are central to this ZCTA, while still describing aggregates rather than individual applicants. Renters account for 56.5% of occupied housing, representing 15,389 renter-occupied homes with a reported margin of error of ±781. Among the surveyed renter universe, 61.8%—or 9,510 households, with a count margin of error of ±943—had gross-rent burden at or above the applicable threshold. The median household income is $53,103, with a reported margin of error of ±$5,895. That income statistic covers households broadly, while the burden statistic concerns occupied renter homes, so they should not be treated as one matched household record. The 30% calculation placing required income at $73,640 is only a screening comparison. It neither predicts approval nor reveals savings, roommates, subsidies, debts, or the circumstances of any particular renter.
The housing stock is mixed enough that a ZIP-wide rent cannot stand in for a single property format. Of 29,603 housing units, 14,060 are single-family units and 5,895 are in large multifamily structures. The overall housing-unit vacancy rate is 8.0%, corresponding to 2,369 vacant units. Vacancy composition matters: 1,083 units were classified as vacant for rent, while 38 were for sale and 51 were seasonal; the remaining vacant units fall into other statuses not itemized here. The vacant-for-rent count is a survey stock estimate, not a count of active, immediately available listings. Likewise, the overall vacancy rate does not show whether a vacant home has the required bedroom count, price, lease date, condition, or eligibility terms. It therefore cannot prove that any particular unit is easy or difficult to secure.
Wider geography clarifies what is distinctive without replacing ZIP evidence. At the West Lafayette city scope, the supplied rent context is about $1,841; at the Tippecanoe County scope, it is $1,419; and at the Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN metro scope, it is $1,410. Thus, the current ZIP index is essentially aligned with the city figure but above the county and metro figures. In the supplied occupancy context, the ZIP renter share sits below the city scope but above the county scope; its vacancy rate is below the city scope but above the county scope; and its observed burden share is below the city scope but above the county scope. At the Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN metro scope, the separate rent-to-income context is 27.28%. These city, county, and metro values summarize wider areas and should not be substituted for ZIP or property-level evidence.
This report is a benchmark set, not a listing inventory, appraisal, forecast, or statement about neighborhood character. Its sources have different periods, definitions, and uncertainty: ZORI tracks asking-rent observations, ACS summarizes occupied renter homes over a survey window, and HUD supplies administrative bedroom standards. Before relying on the figures for a property decision, verify the exact address, its USPS delivery ZIP, and how it maps to the statistical ZCTA. Obtain the current advertised rent, lease term, availability date, concessions, deposits, mandatory fees, parking charges, pet costs, and utility responsibilities. Confirm the legal bedroom count, unit type, furnishing, and whether quoted rent is base or effective rent. Finally, request the property’s actual application criteria and documentation requirements rather than treating the arithmetic income screen, aggregate burden rate, vacancy estimate, or modelled bedroom ladder as a qualification rule.
","findings":[{"body":"The June 2026 ZIP ZORI is $1,841, a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, and it is 3.09% above the prior-year level. The packet’s arithmetic says that rent corresponds to $73,640 of annual income at a 30% housing share. That is a comparison screen, not a quoted lease cost or screening rule.","title":"Current asking-rent benchmark"},{"body":"The modelled ladder ranges from $1,332 for a studio to $2,799 for four bedrooms, with the two-bedroom estimate anchored at the $1,841 ZIP ZORI. It applies the relative shape of the local HUD ladder to ZORI. These are not measured bedroom rents, and they should not be interpreted as observed premiums for adding bedrooms.","title":"Bedroom figures are modelled"},{"body":"ACS reports that renters occupy 56.5% of occupied housing in the ZCTA. Among the surveyed renter universe, 61.8% had gross-rent burden at or above the threshold, based on 9,510 households. This is evidence about aggregate occupied renter homes, not proof that a specific applicant is burdened or that a particular unit is unaffordable.","title":"Renter burden is widespread in the survey"},{"body":"The ZCTA’s overall vacancy rate is 8.0%, but only 1,083 of the 2,369 vacant units were classified as for rent. Other vacancies include for-sale, seasonal, and additional statuses. Neither the rate nor the vacant-for-rent count identifies active listings with a required bedroom count, lease date, condition, price, or eligibility standard.","title":"Vacancy requires composition checks"}],"risks":["ZORI, ACS median gross rent, and HUD standards have different timing, populations, definitions, and purposes; treating them as interchangeable rents can create a misleading property comparison.","The bedroom ladder inherits HUD’s relative bedroom pattern and anchors it to ZIP ZORI, so property-specific layouts, concessions, fees, and lease terms can produce materially different asking rents.","ACS renter share, income, burden, and vacancy figures carry sampling uncertainty and describe aggregate homes or households; they cannot establish the finances or availability facing one renter.","A statistical ZCTA does not exactly equal a USPS delivery ZIP, and ZIP-level observations may not represent the exact address, building type, utility package, or application criteria under review."],"qa":[{"a":"It is the June 2026 Zillow ZORI for the ZIP market: a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is not a median lease payment, an occupied-unit survey result, a bedroom-specific quote, or a guarantee that a current listing is available at that amount.","q":"What does the $1,841 current rent represent?"},{"a":"The figures describe different universes. ACS is a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, while ZORI reflects observed asking rents and blends rental types. Their 1.51-times relationship should not be interpreted automatically as rent growth, a utility adjustment, or a property-level discount.","q":"Why is ACS median gross rent lower than Zillow ZORI?"},{"a":"No. The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are modelled estimates created by scaling ZIP ZORI with the relative local HUD bedroom ladder. HUD values are administrative standards, not asking rents, and the resulting estimates are not measurements of current listings or observed bedroom premiums.","q":"Are the bedroom estimates actual observed rents?"},{"a":"Confirm the exact address and delivery ZIP, current base and effective rent, lease term, concessions, deposits, mandatory fees, utility responsibilities, legal bedroom count, furnishing, parking, pet costs, availability date, and application criteria. These checks are necessary because ZIP benchmarks, survey vacancy, and burden statistics do not describe a particular unit.","q":"What should be checked for a specific rental property?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback","release":"ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR 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